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Monday, March 30, 2015

They had a cheery supper that night in spite of simple fare.. The mother was resurrecting all of her old recipe, plain wholesome food, cheaply bought and deriving its savoury taste and smell from the old deftness in seasoning, the trick of long cooking and careful preparation..

Bean soup made with tomatoes, potatoes and celery tops... brown bread, baked apples and cream, even bread pudding with a dash of chocolate to make it tasty, hash...

It all seemed so good and they were so hungry from their work..

Grace Livingston Hill ( A Patch of Blue)

Good Evening all..

How are you?

Spring has arrived here, finally, although we still have lots of snow..

At least it is melting..

Nova Scotia had a bad storm yesterday but we missed it this time..

Nevertheless, Winter is about done for..

Mild temps and fogs are getting rid of the snow a lot faster then one can imagine..

We live in hope.. grin..

I often read books that I find inspiring in the fact that they write about the role of the woman in the home and describe her chores throughout the day..

Of course, these books are written about the 1800's era.. smile..

I love reading books that give me inspiration as the keeper of my home..

The plot of the story may be a bit mundane but as long as the writer describes the daily routines of the home I rather enjoy it..

I favor historical books and also books written about the World Wars period..

Yes, I am a history buff..smile..

I find it interesting how the ladies managed their homes during those hard times..

Do you?

One thing I noted is that they always put the tea pot on during a crisis.. I guess it helped to calm them..

It was also a daily ritual that began as soon as they arose and stirred the embers of the fire..

We still do that here..

Although, it is the coffee perking..

But I, too do need my tea.. smile..

Breakfast was an important meal..

It needed to be substantial as they worked so hard..

And usually, after breakfast, the lady of the home mixed up a batch of bread..

I made this one the other day from my new cookbook..

Brown Eggs and Jam Jars..

It turned out beautiful and was called Sandwich Bread..

I noticed that the Hamburger Buns were basically the same recipe except for the egg topping and seeds..

So I just made the Sandwich Bread and instead of 2 loaves I made half of it into the rolls...

These were made with whole rolled oats and whole wheat flour mostly..

I don't think I should publish her recipe without permission..

But her book is awesome and available at Costco and I did see it at Indigo but it was an extra $7.00

Back to the books... smile..

I also noted that a protein which was favored during those years was fish..

It was cheap and usually available..

Terry and I both love fish..

And although not necessarily frugal it is very nutritious..

Smelts are being fished here in the Maritimes and the fish paddlers are selling them at street corners in the city..

The last time we were in we bought a few pounds..

When they were cleaned I froze the heads and then later with some salmon parts I made a fish broth..

I covered the fish with water and then I added a bay leaf, onion, peppercorns, celery and some leaves and then let it simmer away for a couple of hours..

What a wonderful savory broth..

That night for Supper we had Manhattan Clam Chowder using the fish broth..

It was great along with the home made bread and was a rather frugal meal just like in the books...

Just simple fare.. smile..

A nice hot cup of tea and a slice of boiled raisin cake finished off an old fashioned meal...

I read something that I had wrote in my journal ..

It was a list of items that was necessary for the larder many years ago..

It was in a book I read andI found it a bit interesting and wrote it down..

If I remember right it was for a new homeplace..

Larder Necessities..

a sack of potatoes

a sack of turnips

a flitch of bacon to hang

salt pork

tallow candles

butter, cheese and eggs on a cold slab..

wheat and barley loaves

a current cake and a block of gingerbread

red and white marmalades..

As I read this I tried to imagine the meals that would be made with these few ingredients..

What do you imagine?

Just for fun make up a meal menu and add it to your comment if you like ..

Let's see.. What would I make?

Hmmmm..

Fried Potatoes with bacon and some mashed turnips and butter..

A slice of a barley loaf and marmalade..

Right..

A big pot of tea and perhaps the Gingerbread..

I think they forgot a few things.. grin..

What say you???

Also in my journal I copied another list from a book I had read...

Household goods for a new home maker...

a set of iron candlesticks

blue and white china plates

pottery figurines

iron kettle

wrought iron chimney crane by which pots and pans could be moved into different positions over the fire...

potatoes would be baked in the fireplace..

Here are a few pics that I took at Kings Landing ( a historical village that we have here in New Brunswick which we visit nearly every Fall)

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Just wanted to share a post with you of our little Irish celebration..

My husband is a Scott and so am I but there is a wee bit of the Irish in my bloodline which I am always happy to announce to the world.. grin..

So with that being said...

Today being St. Patrick's Day was a sweet opportunity for Terry and I to have a special little dinner..

It was not a lot of work but a bit of fun to find some green dishes and such..

I am blessed to have a collection of Beeleek pottery which was made in Ireland.. I love every little piece.. Most of it was given to me from my husband's dear cousin, Marilyn and then Shonda gave us a lovely piece for our 40th anniversary..

I was happy to use a few pieces for dinner..

You will notice they have little shamrocks on their edges..

Then to find some green place mats, sheep napkin holders from my friend, Judy and such..

Green is one of my favorite colors so it was not hard to find a few things to decorate the table with.

Marilyn also gave me some little Irish ornaments as she knows how I love the Irish.. smile..

I think it is important to take the time and make the effort to have little special occasions where we can celebrate, don't you?

That is what home is all about..

Celebrating the life that Jesus has blessed us with..

The times we can spend together and the memories we make are precious and worth a wee bit of effort..

In the big ways and the small ones.. eh?

St. Patrick was responsible for taking Christ to England from Ireland when Christianity was failing..

We have been studying church history at our Bible Study and studied about him last week..

It has been a very enlightening topic and so blessed to be a part of this Bible Study..

Anyway.. back to our dinner..

I made a little Soda Bread which was just big enough for two..

Along with some home made Blackberry Jelly ..

We actually had some left over for breakfast .. smile..

And a Colcannon Soup which was delicious..

I asked Terry if he liked it and he said what was there not to like..

Cabbage, potatoes and milk. grin..

(it was much more then that..grin)

I was talking to a dear friend this morning who is a faithful reader of the blog and I was saying what a wonderful motivation this blog is..

Because I want to put something on here to interest you it motivates me to put out a bit of extra effort and Terry and I both benefit from it..

He never complains about the time or effort I put into my blog and is always so helpful to me..

He waits for his soup while I get the perfect picture and pays for that old dish which is esactly right for a table setting..

He takes me for long drives and stops for pics and gets in ditches to pick me flowers and such.. grin..

Notice that picture above where he is sitting there patiently waiting for me to take a picture..

See that dear old hand there ..

Well, that hand has held mine for almost 45 years of marriage next week..

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WELCOME....

I am so glad you have stopped by The Blessed Hearth. Pour yourself a nice hot cup of tea and stay for awhile. The fire is lit and burning brightlly and the candles smell heavenly. Biscuits are in the oven...

I hope you will find something to inspire you to put God at the centre of your home. Something that reminds you that in this busy world the Lord puts the family first. We as mothers and wives have a blessed reponsiblity to do what we can with the Lord's help to make our homes a sancuary for our families. To be Keepers of our Homes..